Hourglass
by B. T. Emmett
Summary: "Actions speak louder than words... but conveying those words is also an action, is it not? Does that make words any less important?" This is a story about manuals, units, everyday life, and of course, their "owner".
1. I: Guardian

**Day One**

**23rd January, 2014**

"So, you are this girl's guardian?"

The young man seated across the official nodded. The aforementioned girl sat beside him, her hands in her lap. Her eyes flickered toward her guardian for a split second, but otherwise showed no response. A simple coffee table stood between them.

"Alright then. What is her relation to you?"

"She is a distant relative – specifically, my mother's cousin's brother-in-law's stepsister's niece – but I'm referred as a family friend for short."

"I see... how long has she been in your care?"

"Almost two weeks now."

"Is that so? How did you find her so easily, when there wasn't a single trace of her?"

"She turned up at my doorstep one day."

"That's it?"

"Yes. Simple as that."

"Nothing before?"

"I said, _she just turned up at my doorstep one day._"

"A-ah... understood."

The official cleared his throat as an attempt to calm himself down.

"I suppose we should do what I really came for." He placed his briefcase on the table, opening it and pulling out a few papers.

"It's nothing complicated – you just need to fill out some information about yourself and sign it."

As the young man filled out the forms, the official observed him. He seemed quite young, and it was then he noticed he never asked about his age. However, he was quite certain that he was as young as he looked.

"You are quite young, aren't you? And you have her to take care of." The condescending tone was loud and clear.

"What of it?" If the expression of his face was neutral despite restraining himself before, his eyes were narrowed, and the corner of his mouth twitched downwards in distaste.

"Well, judging by your looks, you're probably fresh out of school. Even though you are inexperienced, you seem confident you can handle being a guardian."

"You seem confident that I can't." By that time, he was already done with the papers.

"Even if you are, you would be busy with jobs, yes? I'm just concerned about the girl's safety while you're busy."

He slammed his hands on the table, abruptly standing up and placing his foot on the table. He leaned down towards the official, who sank in his chair.

"Sir, I'm going to ask you to leave. Frankly, you are being irritating and annoying the hell out of me. If you don't leave within the next few minutes, I won't hesitate to eliminate you like the pest you are."

His intense glare distracted the official from noticing the gun that was suddenly in his hands. Even without the gun, the official was already shaking like a leaf.

The official stuttered what seemed like an apology, but with the way he stumbled over his words, it wasn't certain. He hurriedly placed the papers in his briefcase, and he proceeded to flee the house.

"Tch."

He got his foot off the table, still frowning. That official was seriously getting on his nerves. Any more of that and he really would have strangled that condescending smile off his face. (The gun was a lie.)

"Annoying little..."

The girl was left alone in the living room as the hot-tempered young man stalked out. A slam was heard, and no doubt it was caused by him as he went out of the house.

She drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly and quietly. To put it simply, she was exhausted and somewhat relieved. She hopped off the sofa and went to the kitchen, thinking about many things at once. Things such as what she should do after her guardian became official, what she should do with her life, and what to eat for dinner.

Oh, and to hold her end of their deal.

* * *

**Approximately an hour ago...**

It had been a bad day. No, bad was an understatement. It had been a day full of _crap_.

Lovino Vargas, also known as Italy Romano, the Southern half of Italy, had first been woken up by a jolt, only to smash his face against something like a wall. The wall was wooden, but damn it was solid. The cramped space he found himself in was not helping it either. From that, he assumed he was contained in a crate. Rather large, for a crate, but still cramped. There was just enough space for him to stand still in one spot.

Just as he was about to resume his little nap (busting himself out proved to be futile), a very sudden jolt akin to a car making a very sharp turn stopped him. And then his face was greeted by the wooden crate. The first time was painful, but the second time was just plain annoying. It was like the crate was mocking him.

_Boohoo, poor you, all alone inside a dark, cramped crate that is me. No matter what you do, there is no escaping me._

"Well, fuck you, crate. Fuck you. If... no, when I get out of here, I will crush you into smithereens. Then, I will gather your remains, burn you to ashes, stomp on you, and let the wind scatter you. Wait, never mind that last one. I will bury you in a hole and you will never see the light of day ever again. Never fucking ever."

...

And then he realised he was having a mental argument with a crate. A one-sided mental argument.

That was stupid. The crate was stupid, he decided. He thought of calling it a piece of shit, but discarded it because he didn't want to think he was inside a piece of shit. That would be just plain filthy.

Two interrupted naps later, he felt he was suddenly on stable ground. No vibrations from engines of transportation, no sudden jolts, no getting his face smashes, no nothing. He lightly knocked the side of the crate in front of him. It certainly didn't feel as solid as before.

A knock echoing his certainly was unexpected, which triggered a chain of reactions: he jumped back and hit the side of the crate behind him, knocking back the crate, which sent him and the crate crashing into the ground.

It was very fucking painful, in case you didn't know.

Dammit all. He punched and kicked through the crate repeatedly to escape. However, it took a lot more effort than he thought, and by the time he finally got himself out, he was exhausted. It didn't stop him from kicking and swearing at the damned crate.

Stupid cramped spaces.

A tap on his shoulder stopped him mid-swear.

"_What the fuck is it_ _now?_"

He turned around, seeing a boyish-looking girl (or was it the other way around?) picking off the small pieces of wood from her clothes. Then he looked at his surroundings. An unfamiliar room... living room, maybe? Definitely inside a house.

Another tap on his shoulder. The girl held something up to him, which had text on it.

**[Are you calm now?]**

A scowl formed on his face. She typed something else in it.

**[Hungry?]**

"Che. Yeah, starving."

**[What do you want to eat?]**

He said the first thing that came to mind.

"Bruschetta."

The girl stared blankly at him for a few seconds before making a curt nod. She walked off, but stopped as if realising she forgot something. She turned around, looking at him.

"What?" he snapped. She beckoned him to follow her. They walked around the house for a few minutes before arriving at the kitchen. His first impression of the kitchen was plain, barren, and blank. Really, he could've designed a better kitchen if he wanted to.

**[Bruschetta, right?]**

He nodded. She opened the refrigerator, looked inside, and closed it. The same went for a few cabinets. She proceeded to type something up.

**[Help yourself. Good luck.]**

And then she just up and left the kitchen.

Lovino paid it no mind. Who else could make Italian food other than the personification of (South) Italy himself? His hand reached for the fridge, opening it. It looked so bare he couldn't help but feel sorry. The fridge was pretty large, so... weren't _large_ refrigerators meant to store a _large _amount of food? Stocked in the fridge was a half-empty bottle of milk, an unopened cup of plain yogurt, a few bottles of water, some lettuce, carrots, one red apple... and tomatoes!

He scooped up all of the tomatoes from the fridge, washed them, and placed them in a bowl. There weren't many, though he could improvise. He picked one up and took a bite from it. Eugh. He narrowed his eyes, chewing the tomato slowly and savouring the taste as much as he could.

Not all _that_ bad, but he had definitely tasted better tomatoes.

After a whole lot of trouble making improvised bruschettas, Lovino could finally sit down near the island with a plate of bruschetta in front of him. He could practically hear the delicious treat calling his name.

"This kitchen is too plain and boring..."

"...lacks ingredients. Can't cook anything like this..."

"...could've chosen better tomatoes..."

As he ate, he muttered all of his complaints. His complaints stopped once he finished eating. That was when he looked up and noticed the girl was sitting across him, making him scowl. Just when he was in a good mood...

Wait... did she hear him say all that? The thought of it made him feel embarrassed for a moment, but he dismissed it. After all, he _was_ just saying what he felt. Nothing wrong with that, he thought.

**[I need you to do a favour.]**

"Why the hell should I help you? I don't even know who you are!"

**[Not important now. Are you willing to help?]**

"Give me one good reason I should help you," he challenged. She stared at him with those blank eyes of hers for a moment. He was starting to feel a little unnerved by it.

**[I'll buy you whatever kitchen ingredients you want. You pick them out, I'll pay.]**

He stopped scowling. What?

**[You can re-decorate the kitchen to your heart's content. I'll deal with financial matters.]**

She really _did_ hear him? Seriously? He was quiet, wasn't he?

**[I'll also buy you an entire crate of tomatoes. Your brand of choice, of course.]**

As she was typing, he held up a hand, making her stop.

"Fine. What kind of shit do you want me to do?"

* * *

**Author's Note**

Bruschetta is an antipasto (basically an appetizer) from Italy consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil, salt and pepper. Variations may include toppings of tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat or cheese. [Taken from Wikipedia.]

Since it's Romano we're talking about, of course he'd add tomatoes, eheheh.

In case you didn't know, this is a **manual-based story**. As in, **Hetalia Units** and all that stuff.

I've always adored manual stories, and I was a little disappointed how the number of regularly updating stories were declining. So I thought, why don't I make my own? It was about time I posted something.

It's already New Year's in my part of the world, so I missed posting it on the Eve by an hour. Oh well. One of my New Year's resolutions is to write a story, post it, and keep going until the end - be it bitter or sweet. Hopefully, it would be sweet enough.

So what are your resolutions? Why not include it in your review while you're at it? Reviews are very much appreciated! [Oh, and please tell me if there's anything off. I'll do my best!]

Happy New Year!

B.


	2. II: One Week Later

**Day Seven**

A week had passed in the blink of an eye. The days he spent had been quite eventful, so Lovino was a little bit surprised it had been an entire week. Just a little.

There _had_ been that Shopping Trip to fulfil that girl's end of the deal. However, it took them three days to get everything he wanted. Well, the groceries and the kitchen were settled fairly quickly, both in the same day. It was the tomatoes that were proved to be the trickiest part, which was completely understandable. He wouldn't take just any tomatoes, they had to be _the_ tomatoes.

If there was one thing everybody knew about him, he was the best of the best when it came to tomato matters, and he would damn well inspect every tomato if he had to. There was absolutely no way he would unknowingly take home a (god forbid) a _rotten_ tomato.

As time-consuming as it was to inspect and choose the tomatoes, they returned home with satisfaction. On Lovino's part, he wouldn't have to worry about unattended tomato cravings and lack of decent food. On the girl's part, they were finally going home after hours upon hours of driving and walking everywhere.

It was noon and they were eating lunch. Lovino had the luxury of preparing it, though it was rather simple – he didn't really pay attention what he was cooking, though he didn't mind. He was thinking of how the silence was really ticking him off when the doorbell suddenly rang.

She reacted first, standing up and quickly walking away to answer the door. It didn't take long for him to see a very large crate (much like the one he was in) being brought into the living room. He was done with his food, so it was probably not a bad idea to see what was going on. When he arrived, he saw what appeared to be a one-sided conversation between the girl and who he presumed to be the delivery boy.

"Really? That's strange... don't worry, I'll look in the van. There's usually a spare for all of them, just in case something like this happens."

"Oh, yeah. It may be outdated, but development doesn't seem to stop. I heard they're revamping it."

"Well, the deliveries are kind of inconsistent. They send one whenever they feel like it. I guess it's the company's trademark flaw."

"Sure thing. I'm going to get that thing now."

Lovino tried to understand their previous conversation, but he was having a hard time. His answers were pretty vague. By the time he came back, he gave up and decided to just ask her later.

"Here you go. See you around."

"Oi, Beanie Head." She had a white beanie (or at least what he thought was one) on her head, so he called her that. "What was he talking about?"

**[1. I didn't get your manual.  
2. Manuals are also accessible on the company's website, but the list is limited.  
3. I was falsely informed the deliveries were monthly.  
4. I told him to call me before making a delivery.]**

"So, who's the idiot inside the box?"

**[You hate him.]**

"And who do I _not_? Just spit it out already."

**[I'd rather open it first. Nobody likes being stuffed into a cramped box.]**

"Fine." Lovino sighed. She had a point.

It was only when she reached for the latches that he noticed they were there. Looking closely on the side opposite of the latches, there were hinges, which reminded him of a door. Well _of course_. Who would be stupid enough to place the latches on top of the crate? Like, how would they even get out? Whoever used that design needed to check their common sense.

Beanie Head opened the crate just like a door, revealing the person inside. Lovino immediately gulped when he saw who it was.

Francis Bonnefoy, also known as the nation of France.

But that's not what made him (just a little bit!) scared. It was because Francis was already awake and grinning and chuckling and he'd really like to just _go away now. _But no, he wasn't going to do that. It would only make Francis think he was a coward (even if it was true) and tease him about it. Lovino would rather not be teased on and on for a tiny little flaw. It would only put him in a bad mood, and he frankly enjoyed the blessing of silence of the past week, short as it was.

"Ah, mademoiselle, was it you that saved me from that terrible crate? It was so cramped I could barely even move!" As if to prove his point, he stretched his arms like one would after getting out of bed.

"Lovino! You are here, too? It's so good to see a familiar face! But of course, the company of the young lady is just as pleasurable." Francis laughed that annoying, French, nasal laugh of his and Lovino wondered if it was possible for his ears to bleed from hearing something so annoying. (Of course not. Annoyance wasn't a factor.)

"Why haven't you said anything yet? You don't have to be so shy, non?"

Speaking of which...

"Why _haven't_ you talked?" Lovino asked. He did notice that she hasn't said a word ever since he arrived, but he hadn't been bothered to ask. That is, until now.

Her gaze was fixated on the floor, refusing to look up at them. Then, she slowly raised a hand, pointed at her throat, and simply shook her head.

"...I see." Francis directed his attention towards Lovino. "What is her name?"

His mind became blank in an instant. Her name? Name, name, name... didn't he see it somewhere before or something?

"Well?"

"...Bonheur."

"Quoi? I didn't quite catch that."

"Something... Bonheur."

Sadly, that was all he remembered. During the visit from the official, he had been filling the papers rather quickly. On top of that, he didn't read any of the long texts or anything. He missed her name, sure, but he definitely saw that on the papers somewhere.

"Is what he said true?"

A nod.

"Alright... what are you called, then?"

It felt like forever before she finally moved, typing it out on her little device. She was still looking at the floor when she held it up.

**[Hope.]**

"What a beautiful name! Such a gloomy expression won't suit that at all."

She looked up at him, blinked a few times and tilted her head as though confused, but the expressionless face remained. Francis chuckled.

"Would you mind showing me to my room, s'il vous plait? That crate was incredible stuffy, and a relaxing bath is what I need."

She gave a curt nod before leading him upstairs. It was probably the room across Lovino's.

All of that happened while Lovino attempted to comprehend how Francis wasn't being lewd as usual and he behaved _normally_. It wasn't exactly a thing you'd see every day... if you were Lovino.

He shook his head and dismissed the thoughts.

For some reason, he had a feeling the silence of the house will be taking a vacation and wouldn't ever come back.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Ah, I didn't really like this chapter. It's shorter than the first by a few hundred words, and not much happened (or at least written). Maybe a lot of things did happen, but were unwritten. There is one thing worthy of taking note, and that is she has a name. It felt kind of awkward after a while. (I still like the sound of beanie head, though, haha!)

I've never written Francis before, but I really hope I got the big brother personality right. My personal thought is he's not 100% perverted the same way Lovino's vocabulary is not 100% swear words. There's a time for everything, I guess.  
My favourite part is about the tomatoes. I ended up writing a really long paragraph (about ten lines), so I had to split into three smaller ones for convenience.

School starts in a few days, and I'm going to try to post another chapter before I leave. I'd still write in school, though I'll start updating weekly.

Reviews, comments, questions, critiques, suggestions, etc - all are welcome!

B.


	3. III: Night Out

**Day Fourteen**

**6th**** February, 2014**

That day, it had been slightly warmer than the usual bitter cold. It was also a weekday – a Thursday to be precise – which meant that Francis should be at work.

A few days after he arrived, he landed himself a position as a French teacher at a local high school a ten-minute drive away. Other than that, he also applied as a tutor at some place. If he was accepted there, that would mean he only had one day off before working again.

(Not that Lovino's complaining. In fact, he was so overjoyed he could hardly contain his excitement.)

There was no need of persuading or convincing the man to get a job, but it did take some time for him to calm down after learning the nearest French restaurant would take half an hour to get there. By car.

(Again, Lovino was not complaining.)

Which is exactly the reason why he was so freaked out when waking up from his siesta to Francis' face. It didn't take long for him to run out and block the door.

"Merda! Shit! Vaffanculo! _Get the fuck away from me!_"

Francis laughed and said something, but the door muffled his words. Even if Lovino did hear them, he wouldn't have understood – he was far too busy freaking out in his mind.

He went down the stairs and into the living room area. As he was glancing around, that was when he saw Hope (still wearing the white beanie) coming from the dining area. When he heard his name being called, he shuddered at the terrifying (in his ears) tone of voice. He quickly grabbed her by her arms and placed her between them.

"You wouldn't dare hurt an innocent young girl, would you?"

Francis gasped, putting a hand on his chest.

"Of course not! I would much rather gently cradle them in my arms, whispering sweet and comforting words-"

"_I don't even want to hear how that ends,_" Lovino very loudly interrupted him, glaring daggers. "You wouldn't lay a finger on _her_."

"Who do you take me for? I am no savage beast, unlike _some_ people."

"I don't know, _an extremely perverted bastard?_"

"Oh, how you wound me with those words! But wait, you are the one exaggerating all of this, are you not_? _I did not _do _anything to you."

Before he could retort, the doorbell rang. Hope shrugged off Lovino's grip to answer the door, revealing the same delivery boy Lovino had seen before.

"Good afternoon, miss." The boy handed a clipboard to her.

"Who is that?" asked Francis. Right, of course he wouldn't have known. He was the one inside the crate last week.

"My name is Graham McMillan, under the Shipping Department of Flying Mint Bunny Inc. Pleased to meet you."

Graham flashed a sweet smile before being handed back the clipboard.

"Should I wheel this to the living room?"

A nod.

Soon enough, he left and the three of them were in the living room, surrounding the tall crate.

"Who is it this time?"

The girl didn't answer, simply rummaging the small box of things that came alone with it. A yellow blobby-looking thing was pulled out.

"Ohonhonhonhon, I think I know _exactly_ who it is."

The small device she always used was placed in his hands.

**[I suggest you lock yourself in your room. Take this PDA with you.]**

Oh, so that's what it was.

* * *

Locking himself up in his room for protection purposes sure was a great idea.

But nobody ever mentioned the_ boredom _he had to go through. He did the only thing he thought would alleviate the boredom, which would be checking out the PDA. Not a lot of games, but there was an internet connection, so there's that. Snooping around sounded fun all of a sudden and he did just that.

Except none of the more popular social networking sites (or whatever the hell they were called, his English be damned) like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. were logged in. The history log was also empty.

He was just about to give up and search for some online games to play when a small beep sounded. It was a new message. To read, or not to read? Then again, there sure were a lot of messages from the same person... and all of them were not read. Ah, what would it matter? He skipped reading the sender's address and went straight to the content.

_Please answer me. I'm really, really worried. She is worried as well._

_One word. That is all I ask of you._

That was surprisingly brief. Lovino checked the other read messages, but they were more or less the same as the first one he read. He wondered what the sender meant by all those messages. Not only that, but it was strange how not one of them was answered.

Then another beep sounded. This time, it was from Hope.

**[They're gone now. It's safe to come out.]**

_Damn. _He selected all the messages and marked them as unread before heading towards the kitchen. Marking them as unread should be enough to not rise any suspicions, at the very least.

"Oi. Where'd the bastards go?"

**[Out to buy alcohol and a mini fridge.]**

Ah, so that explains things- wait a _mini fridge._

"A mini fridge? ..._Really?_" And he wasn't talking about how ridiculous it sounded.

**[I'm sure they can convince the shopkeeper to give them a mini fridge for free.]**

Of _course_. That would certainly be a plausible explanation for how they managed to get beer and wine, complete with a mini fridge, even though Francis had only recently started working and there was no possible way he could have already received a paycheck.

**[He really didn't do anything.]**

"...What?" _I'm sorry but you are being quite the cryptic right now._

**[I saw him. He was only going to surprise you.]**

Hmm... Francis?

"Che. It still doesn't change the fact that he _is_ a pervert." She simply nodded in that strange way of hers.

**[Are you going to make dinner?]**

"Yes." A pause. "Only because I pity you for having to eat food that has poor taste! I, being the generous man that I am, have decided to grace you all with the heavenly cuisine that is Italian."

**[Your grandfather sang that Heaven on Earth would have the French as cooks.]**

"There must be something wrong in his head. That song is a complete and utter _lie_."

**[But then you would be denying that the lovers are Italian.]**

...

"My grandfather is a genius. His words speaks the truth and the truth alone."

* * *

"Hmm~ I just realised how rude we were for suddenly leaving the house so abruptly! Gilbert, _mon ami_, you haven't even formally introduced yourself!"

Sitting on the couch and flipping through the channels of the TV was Lovino. So far, he couldn't find anything of interest other than a few channels running the latest movies, if the guide book was to be believed. The movies that did sound interesting wouldn't be on for ten minutes or so. He turned his head towards the dining area. Whatever was going on did not interest him in the least, but he was bored and had time to kill.

"You are being graced by the presence of the Awesomeness that is Gilbert Beilschmidt! So, what the hell is your name?"

Oh, did he mention they were really really loud?

Well, now he did.

A short moment of silence of passed. Hope was washing her dishes (there was no dishwasher, like what?) and showed no visible response. Even when she was done, she only turned to start walking towards the stairs.

"_Ma cherie, _you do know what you just did is considered rude, _non_?"

She stopped just before exiting their line of sight, turning her head towards them.

"So? The Awesomeness demands for you to introduce yourself properly!"

She turned her head away.

From what Lovino saw, there wasn't anything wrong with what she did. If he was a mere passerby, he wouldn't think anything of it - hell, he probably wouldn't even have noticed it.

But the _way _she did it looked a lot like a haughty nobleperson harrumphing or scoffing without making a sound, something like that, with a thou-art-not-worthy aura thing all around her, complete with her nose somewhat raised in the air and all.

And promptly walked away.

"Well _that_ was rude."

Lovino rolled his eyes. _Noble my ass.__  
_

"Oi, Francis. Let's go for a drink."

"Of course, of course! After all, _some_ people here take little surprises far too seriously~"

The TV started playing a jaunty little tune. Averting his attention towards it, he saw that the movie was starting. Both Francis and Gilbert were out in no time, leaving him all alone in the living room with the TV.

At least he could relax for a bit without anybody to disturb for once.

He made a mental reminder to lodge a chair under his bedroom's door later, lest he might face some unwanted consequences that would forever leave a mark in his mind.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Surprise, surprise!

Ahahaha, I hope the few days of absence didn't drive anybody away. I thought I could finish up before school started, but I was so wrong. And now I'm being swamped with homework (notes for practically every subject), even though it's only been a week.

I'm taking a Science stream in my school, and now I understand what my seniors used to say about having to commit myself to studying. There's more homework than I would like, and I have never liked homework, so I guess this means I'll be busier from now on. But if there's one thing for sure, I won't up and leave this story so easily!

Oh, and I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but I'd like to thank all the people who reviewed! I enjoyed reading every one of them very much. Is an average of 1,500 words per chapter enough? I don't think I can manage to do more than that for every chapter, so yeah.

As always, reviews, comments, questions, critiques, suggestions, whatever - all are welcome!

(Bleehhh. It's starting to look plain. I do have ideas; I'm just worried it might not be as great as it was in my head...)

B.


	4. IV: Bookkeep

**Day Twenty-One**

"Oh, _Hooooooope_~ Won't you please come out? I made you some _mille-feuille~_"

No response.

Francis quietly sighed. This was the fourth or fifth time he came knocking on her door, and it had been nearly five hours since the first time he came, once every hour. It was late in the evening, the sun was setting, and what made him worried was how she still hadn't come out of her room for that day.

The girl had a sweet tooth, as Francis discovered some time in the past, but apparently that wouldn't work either. Right now, he couldn't tell whether an iron will was a good or bad thing. Because normally, it would be a good thing, but this is just ridiculous.

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just said there's a delivery?"

Gilbert was standing across the hall near the kitchen doorway. A frown replaced the usual smirk on his face.

"She could be starving in there! I know how to sort out my priorities, and frankly _mon ami_, this is placed higher on my list than _him_!" Francis defended.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever- I'm hungry as fuck. I'm _offended_ that you would place someone else's starvation over your most awesome best friend ever." The sarcasm was practically dripping in his tone. A guilty chuckle sounded from Francis. They were almost out of groceries, so they needed to go shopping sooner or later. Thing was, he hadn't received his paycheck yet (but he will by next week!), Gilbert was still scouting for a job (or he was just being lazy), and Lovino...

Well, that was something he had yet to ask about, although he wouldn't be surprised if he secretly had a job already.

(There was an actually good Italian restaurant nearby, and he had heard of a job vacancy for the position of a chef, so yes, he wouldn't be surprised.)

Though there would still be the issue of whether or not Lovino was willing to buy the groceries... which was very much unlikely. He _could_ just tell Gilbert to get off his lazy ass of course, but he wasn't in the mood for getting angry.

Francis placed his head on the door and sighed once again. There was so much to be done yet nothing _can_ be done. Oh, the dilemma...'

"_Ma cherie_, locking yourself in your room wouldn't do you any good, you know. It's much better to come out and eat delicious food in the company of people who care about you and a warm, toasty fire."

The longer he tried talking her into coming out from her room, the more he realised he had been trying to bribe her food, in a sense.

And finally, there was response. Kind of. It happened so suddenly and quickly that Francis barely noticed he was no longer standing beside the door. When his vision refocused, the first thing he saw was Hope, looking at him like she was standing at a taller place.

Taller place?

A slight pain jabbed at his right side. His eyes wandered to his surroundings. Ceiling, Hope, door open... ah, so that's what happened - the door opened very suddenly and he fell down. Of course, it was as plain as day.

"I see you have heeded my advice. Don't worry, I can always make more food if you like~ After all, cooking _is _my forte."

He picked himself up and dusted the (possibly non-existent) dust from his clothes. Glancing at her, she was staring blankly at him.

"Anyway... it seems you have another delivery." Francis pointed a finger in the vaguely at the direction of the foyer. She nodded, and Francis breathed deeply in relief. Five hours was a long time, that's for sure.

A tap on his forearm got his attention. Hope made some gesture akin to a shoo-shoo gesture at him. He blinked a few times, before cracking a grin. Her way of telling him to get out seemed silly somehow._  
_

"Ah, hello again. I trust you've been well." Graham smiled, tipping his hat as Hope crossed her arms. From the looks of it, she huffed, although silently. After signing some papers, Graham brought the crate in to the living room. Footsteps sounded from the stairs; it was Lovino.

"Good evening, Mr. Vargas." _More people? Again?_

"Exactly how many are we expecting?" Francis beat him to the question. Graham appeared thoughtful for a moment.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. However, Miss Bonheur is a beta tester, so... many, many more." A grin. "Emphasis on _beta tester. _I wouldn't be too surprised if an uncommon or never-before-seen one came."

From where Lovino stood, he could see her lips pursed into a thin line and eyes narrowed, even more so than usual. There was a general feeling of _not impressed_ written all over her.

"Oh, come now, it won't be all _that_ bad." Then Graham proceeded to have what Lovino could only describe as the most shit-eating grin ever on his face. "Think of it like this. You get to explore a whole new world of the unknown!"

She pointed at her throat and made a cut-throat gesture in response.

"I'm afraid that's not possible; as you can see, or should I say _hear_, this is my natural way of speaking the English language. After a while of settling down in this country, I was bound to have picked up some of the quirks and habits." He spoke with an accent that was very clearly British, whereas before, it wasn't as pronounced.

"Oh, so you are one of _Angelterre'__s _kind? It's a good thing that you're not like him at all." Francis chuckled.

"You might want to step away from that soon," he pointed at the crate, "is what I'd recommend, but you probably won't listen to me. _Adieu, monsieur!_"

"I think I know who's inside, kesesese!"

"And I think I know as well!"

Lovino chose that moment to abscond.

A minute had barely passed when he heard the sounds of wood breaking, followed by swears in a British accent.

He decided it was going to be a long night.

Even after slipping away to the kitchen to make dinner with the little groceries they had, Lovino could hear their voices clearly. Francis and Arthur were arguing about something or other, with Gilbert occasionally pinching in a few words and laughing.

Lovino chose not to partake in anything for the most part during dinner. The dreaded question was spoken as he washed his plate.

"You said there were only three bedrooms... where would I be sleeping?"

When he turned towards the table, he jumped a bit. All eyes were on him. He glanced at each of their faces, some questioning, some not.

"_Not in a million years.__" _He gave the pointer finger at her, before stalking off.

"What was that all about?"

"Ohonhonhon, you should have seen last week."

"...Do I even want to know what happened?" Arthur asked rhetorically, sparing a glance at Gilbert, who snickered.

"Well..."

* * *

**Day Fourteen**

"So what if we just bought some wine and beer? It's called stocking up because the awesome me would never run out of beer!"

"_Oui_, it would do no good for me if I don't have a bottle of wine to spare."

Lovino rolled his eyes. _Why did I even bother...?_

Earlier that day, the duo went out to buy a mini fridge and some alcohol. Nothing particularly wrong about that.

And then they announced they would be out to a local bar to celebrate Gilbert's arrival, just the two of them ("_Only awesome people are allowed to go! Of course, Francis is not as awesome as me, but he's still more awesome than the two of you!_").

"So, what do you think of your new home?"

"Not too shabby. It'd make a great vacation home, I'll tell you that!" Gilbert glanced towards the living room. "I still think a fireplace over there would make it twice as awesome. I mean, it's winter and it's fucking _freezing!"_

Hope, who had just been some water, placed the glass on the table with a little more force than necessary.

"Okay, I get it, the heater's just fine. But you have to admit a blazing fire would look much more awesome!"

She placed her utensils on her plate, making a clanking sound that was louder than usual.

"_Somebody's_ a little moody..." Gilbert whispered. Francis just shrugged.

"Anyway... what's upstairs like?"

"Mine and Lovino's rooms are upstairs! ...That's pretty much all there is when I think about it." A chuckle sounded.

"Hmm... what about me? I am definitely _not_ sleeping on the couch. I'm far too awesome for that."

Lovino was washing his dishes, so when he turned towards them, he didn't expect for all of them to be looking at him. Francis and Gilbert each had a suspicious-looking grin on their faces. _Wait..._

Three rooms. Three occupants. One newcomer. Looking at him.

"_Fuck._"

Their grins became wider.

"Hell no. Don't even _think_ about it."

"Hmm? Is there something wrong?" Francis was obviously trying to keep himself from laughing.

"_Hell fucking no._"

Lovino took a few unsteady steps away.

"_Hell_ to the **fucking** to the-"

"Yes to fucking?"

"_**Hell fucking is**** no.**_"

Francis and Gilbert burst out laughing as he disappeared from the kitchen. His footsteps could still be heard - although they were more like angry and loud stomping - and stopped moments later. Glancing at the living room, Lovino was on the couch in front of the TV.

"He takes things so seriously that it's fun watching him get riled up," Francis snickered, "even the smallest things."

"Ja. He didn't realise what he said doesn't even make sense!"

* * *

"Kesesese!"

"Ah, good, you're back with us."

There was a large and ancient-looking book on the table, and Hope was writing in it. Arthur standing behind her, peeking at the book.

"Apparently, we're going shopping," Francis seemed cheery enough about it.

"For what?"

"_Angleterre'_s tasteless clothes are unfit to be seen in public. In fact, they should never see the light of day."

"At least they're not as tacky as yours! You stand out so much I wouldn't be surprised if you became target practice."

Just then, a wallet was held up in front of Arthur's face. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but took it anyway after a moment of hesitation. He looked inside and his eyes widened a bit.

Hope stopped writing, holding up the pen in her hand. Her free hand reached into her pocket.

**[I'll lend you money for now.]**

She tapped the book with the non-business tip of the pen and at a first glance, there were an awful lot of numbers written. Upon closer inspection, the book seemed to record things like purchases, sales and cash... financial transactions.

"Looks like someone has a debt, kesesese!" A scowl immediately appeared on Arthur's face.

**[As if you don't.]**

Francis turned away and coughed, but it was obvious he was covering up a snicker.

**[Laughs the one with a credit card debt of four digits.]**

Lovino, who had been silently sitting further away from all of them the entire time, quietly huffed.

"What about him? You said he was the one who renovated the entire kitchen and all! There was even a crate of tomatoes when I first got here!" Disbelief was written all over his face. Genuine or not, it didn't really matter - after all, it was Francis.

**[I never said he paid for it.]**

"...That's true. Tell me, how? How did he get the money? I can't really wrap that thought around my head," he demanded, eyeing Lovino suspiciously.

"I'll have you know it was a fair deal and I won't be giving back anything!" Lovino defended himself angrily. Well, as angrily as he could, knowing full well the Frenchman frightened him to some degree.

"We should really get going. I don't want to prolong this any longer than it has to be..." Arthur sighed.

"I disagree because I don't see the point in rushing when it's your problem to deal with."

...And back to the usual state of contradiction between the two.

"Ugh, I don't give a shit about why you're arguing - no, I don't give a shit about this little shopping trip at all. The only thing I do give a shit about is-" He paused, fully gaining the attention of everyone.

"_I call shotgun, dammit._"

A moment of silence. Then, a string of colourful words came out of Arthur's mouth. The car wasn't exactly big or fancy, which wouldn't have been a problem except for certain individuals, but it was normally made for three passengers and a driver. Since they were five altogether, one of them had to sit in between two people. And since Lovino called shotgun, Arthur was stuck in the back with Francis and Gilbert.

Doop-de-fucking-doo.

* * *

**Author's Note**

_Mille-feuille _is, traditionally, a pastry (or cake if you prefer) with three layers of puff pastry and two layers of pastry cream, with the top coated with powdered sugar. In later variations, the top is glazed with icing in alternate white (icing) and brown (chocolate) strips and then combed. Today, there are also various savoury fillings such as cheese and spinach. [Referenced from Wikipedia.] _Pssst... It looks so yummy!_

Oh jeez I am so _uncreative_ with arrivals of new characters, no questions asked. I swear this will be the last chapter that is seemingly without a plot! Next chapter will have _some _plot... if you can call it plot. Forgive me if the insults are plain... orz

The flashback thing in the middle is because B is an idiot and forgot to write it in the previous chapter (where it originally was supposed to go), so it's here. It's supposed to happen before Lovino went to watch TV. (Also, pointer finger ala Phoenix Wright is an interesting sight.)

Does anybody know what I should do to attract more people? I've never really known how to advertise, so. It'd make me really happy if you have a suggestion, or help spread the word!

As always, thank you for the reviews and visits! All reviews - comments, questions, critiques, suggestions, whatever - are welcome!

**PS.** I'm wondering if anybody's interested in their house's plan? Because before I posted the first chapter I went looking for house plans to give me an image of how it would look like. To put it bluntly I suck at designing and describing houses and I can't work without a clear image so... eheheh. I'm not sure if you, the readers, have any trouble imagining it, but I would be more than happy to provide a link in the next chapter! (I'm targeting Tuesday/late night Monday!)


	5. V: Seen

**Day Twenty-Eight**

"What do you mean you're not going to school! Education is a very important part in life to make sure you have a future!"

It was dinnertime. As usual, everybody was eating together at the table.

"Ooh, _busted_~ Kesesese!"

"Didn't any of you say anything?"

The sound of sizzling vegetables filled the air.

"You've only been here for a few hours! What would you know?" Arthur huffed, angry for the simple reason that someone was angry at _him_.

"What about your parents? You all should be much more surprised they haven't turned up!"

"Hmm~ Lovi was the first one here, so you'll have to ask him about that."

"Don't call me 'Lovi', perverted bastard!"

"Aiyah... I can't believe you all could be so irresponsible, aru."

However, this particular evening was a Chinese dinner with an additional Chinese man.

"School, aru, school! You hasn't been going to school for at least a month, so who knows how much you missed!"

Plates banged loudly as they were set on the table.

"The question is, why _were_ you alone, aru? Don't you have anybody to look after you?"

Gilbert, who had been sitting beside her, was rudely pushed away as Yao claimed his seat. He grumbled a bit before taking the nearest available seat.

**[Is that ****doubt**** I hear?]**

Her lips were pursed. Strands of red hair covered her eyes, so he was unable to see her face very well.

**[For what reason am I being doubted?]**

A sigh escaped from Yao's lips. How should he put it...

"I don't know, aru."

In an instant, all eyes were focused on him. Hope who was almost always not showing any expressions tilted her head. The others either raised an eyebrow or had a look that demanded answers from him.

"What the hell are-"

"Don't interrupt me!" Yao held up his chopsticks threateningly, making Gilbert shut up.

"What I mean is... I'm _doubting _you because..." _Phrasing this is a lot harder than I thought. _He mumbled to himself. _Oh, I know!_

"Look at it this way. My doubt isn't because I think you can't take care of yourself," _I think I said that right. _"but I have my doubts because I don't know a lot about your life..." _That should be right. _"And it's doubt because I want to know more about your predicament?"

Yao knew full well he sounded like he didn't make sense. But that's just because he had to do it so spontaneously; Arthur's 'proper' English and sense be damned.

**[You want me to go to school?]**

A nod.

**[I'll think about it.]**

She left, and dinner carried on.

"Psh, prissy drama queen," Gilbert mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"That's something new," Francis said, making Yao look at him with confusion. "Oh, Yao, don't get us wrong. We _did_ ask her everything you just did, every single day! It's only today that she answered, for some reason," he chuckled, waving it off like nothing. The Chinese man didn't know how to react properly upon the revelation that he was somewhat in the wrong about them.

"So, what did you do that made her answer?"

"...What _did_ I do, aru?" As far as he knew, there was nothing special about it; he was just being an adult concerned about the well-being of someone akin to a child.

_Bing!_

Lovino casually pulled out a cellphone; where and how he got it, nobody was really sure. They never knew what kind of job (if he even has one in the first place). A minute passed before he muttered curses in Italian as he furiously pressed the tiny keys of the phone.

Another _Bing!_ sounded not too long after that. He didn't look very pleased. In fact, his grip on the phone was so tight it just might crush into itty bitty little pieces, but the expression vanished in a second.

"What's got you so riled up?" France raised an eyebrow, a visible grin on his face. Lovino glared at him.

"You're rooming with me, hands down, no questions asked. Got that?" He pointed a finger at the newcomer before storming off.

"I suppose his dishes would be washing itself," Arthur dryly commented. A brilliant thought popped in Gilbert's mind.

"Not me!" he yelled before running away to the sink with his empty dishes.

"Not _moi_!"

"Not me!"

"Not- oh bloody hell."

The next thing he knew, he was left alone at the table with his and Lovino's empty dishes. The others were snickering as they fought to use the sink, and Arthur had the most not amused expression on his face.

"Really. Just really..."

He reminded himself not to say anything that might be turned against him ever again. Of course, knowing himself, he was more likely to do it again than not.

At the very least, he hoped it wouldn't be anything worse than that; like a life threatening situation or something.

* * *

**Day Thirty**

During breakfast, they had omelette. The last one to the table was Francis, which wasn't all that odd, since he cooked the food and set up the table and all. However, the odd thing was he came at least ten minutes later than when the person who came before him (in this case, Lovino) started eating. Even more curiously, he seemed seriously distraught.

"What are you fretting about this early in the morning? Shouldn't you be going for work?" Arthur had been the one to ask. Francis wasn't the kind of person who would be over-the-top dramatic with emotions, so to see him a bit quiet with a serious demeanor was kind of unexpected.

"She's won't answer!"

"Oh come _on_, did you already forget she was going to school today?" The Brit snapped. Francis, on the other hand, rolled his eyes.

"You're missing the point, _Sourcils. _I've been knocking on her door before I even started cooking." It was still very early (seven-ish in the morning), and whenever it was Francis' turn to cook breakfast, he would start at least half an hour before that. Arthur connected the dots together and widened his eyes.

"No school would start that early; that would be torturous for both students _and _teachers," Yao mused, holding up a piece of omelette with his fork.

"I'm happy she's going to school, but I can't help but be worried! She left far too early that I didn't even get to give her my homemade lunch," he sighed dramatically, looking like his heart was broken over it.

"She had to take drastic measures to go to school today. Something about damn uniforms and an identity crisis," Lovino sighed. Seriously, did they know _nothing_ about anything? "That's what she said in her stupid message."

Gilbert snickered, mumbling about 'that's what she said' jokes before Francis shot him a look to shut him up.

"She's in high school, and I know she's clever enough to take care of herself if she could live with you around for so long," he commented.

"That's not what I meant, but I'm going to ignore you said that." He huffed, annoyed. Then, he began telling the reasons for his worry: she set off alone, and it was very much likely that it was still dark then, so there was no telling if the roads were safe at a time like that. What's worse, she also couldn't speak, so if she did happen to bump into trouble, there was no way for her to call for help.

That wasn't the end of it: their house (according to Lovino, anyway) seemed mostly untouched and unused when he first got there (not anymore after he made the kitchen his territory). From that, Francis concluded she may have recently moved here. If she did, it wouldn't be surprising if she was also new to the school.

_So what of it? _Arthur raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. Francis sighed, leaning back into his chair. _It's hard to believe you of all people could be so _ignorant.

Everybody knows that when a new student enters the school during the middle of the year, all attention would be directed to them. Sadly, not everybody had kind hearts, good intentions, or selflessness towards the newbie; more so if they had what people would consider a disability. In this case, it would be her inability to speak.

_And? _Francis' lips turned into a frown, abruptly standing up and grabbing him by the collar.

She was a perfect target for bullying! What terrified him so much was that if she became a victim of that horrible clichéd act, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. All she could do was just stand there, enduring the pain helplessly. Because she lacked a voice to do the simple thing known as talking, her options for communication were limited. And if that was limited, when people find it difficult to understand her, they'd give up on trying. They would leave her all alone, and nobody will understand her.

Only then did Francis realise why she could have avoided school. _Maybe her last school left her with bad memories? Did her peers treat her poorly? Was there anybody who helped her out? _These thoughts filled Francis with fear and worry and nervousness.

Listening to Francis' detailed description of the endless possibilities made him worried as well (bullying was not something to be taken lightly; it was - no, _is - _a very serious issue, and it would be hypocritical of him to degrade it and brush it off as something that only existed in the world of television and sitcoms and movies).

And that, dear friends, was how Francis called in sick for work and rushed off to Hope's school, dragging Arthur and Lovino along. Arthur because he knew the Brit had a guilty conscience, and Lovino because he was the only one who kept in touch with her via cellphone. He was left with the school's (_academy_, he angrily corrected) address in case of an emergency where he, as her legal guardian, had to be there.

Of course, that didn't mean he knew _exactly _where it was - all he had was a flimsy text message with the address, not directions on how to get there like a Google map. So after one hour of getting lost, turning the wrong road, driving on the wrong lane, missing the street, sudden brakes (Francis was the driver, Arthur was on lookout, and Lovino the navigator who called shotgun) and lots of colourful foreign words, they were finally in front of the school.

Needless to say, it was quite impressive.

* * *

"Alright, class; we have a new student today. You may come in now."

Said student entered the class and was instantly the centre of attention. His hair was a deep shade of red, which in itself was eye-catching. He wore a a dark green blazer, a white shirt underneath, and trousers of a similar shade of green. He also wore a matching tie.

The thing that made him particularly eye-catching was the uniform he wore was in fact not the uniform of the academy, which had a lot more red and gold and not even a spot of green.

"He has some... _trouble_ with speaking, so do remember to treat him well. Please, introduce yourself."

The redhead picked up a marker and wrote on the whiteboard.

**{Ray Lancaster**

**Pleased to make your acquaintance.}**

"Okay, now that we're done with that, why don't you take your seat?"

There were hushed whispers about him as he made his way to his seat, which was at the very back of the class. He didn't particularly care. The only thing in his mind was the lessons being taught to him that day, and so he concentrated on that until it was over.

Even after class, whispers and gossip about him filled the air.

It was too bad he never cared for such things, as there were better things to do in his time. Things such as getting through the day without much commotion or problems whatsoever, lest he would make someone worry about him.

* * *

"Do you even know where to look for her?"

"Even if I didn't, you wouldn't know either."

Lovino tuned out their arguments. He still couldn't comprehend how he was stuck with the two people who could do nothing more than argue when in each others' vicinity. Knowing the address of the academy (_not school_) was one thing, but they could have just asked her themselves. It wasn't as if he was the only one with a cellphone.

The hallways were currently empty, which probably meant class was in session. At least they wouldn't have to deal with any strange looks.

"Why don't you shitheads just shut up and start looking already?"

"You're one to talk!"

"Then you should start first, since you _obviously _know where to find her."

Lovino jumped at the intimidation of Arthur and Francis combined together.

"F-fine! _Vaffanculo_!" He turned around to look in a different hallway.

"Oh, I think I found her!" Francis proclaimed excitedly.

"Where?"

"There! Red hair and all." He pointed at a figure walking towards them for the convenience of his fellow 'partners'. Sure enough, they spotted unmistakably red hair.

"Found you!" Francis immediately engulfed her in a hug. "I was so worried I couldn't just twiddle my thumbs all day, so I came here to make sure you were fine. I'm glad you're alright, and-"

**{I'm sorry, but who are you?}**

"Whaaat?" He released his hold on her. "How can you forget Big Brother just like that? After all the trouble I went throught to look for you!"

"Um. Oi, Frog."

"What now?" He frowned.

"You should get your eyes checked, bastard."

Francis turned around to face them, ready to retort when he saw what they were looking at. Or rather, _who_.

**[The hell are you doing?]**

Hope held up her PDA with her usual blank look, though he had the feeling she wasn't too pleased right now. ('_Oh, you think?' _a tiny voice in his head mocked.)

"_We_-" he earned a glare from Arthur and Lovino, "-were looking for you to make sure you were safe!"

**[Well, you had the wrong person there.]**

"But you look the same!"

**[We don't look exactly the same.]**

Francis turned to face the one he originally thought was Hope. The first thing he noticed was the difference of uniforms. Hope's had more (dark) red and gold, while the stranger had a lot of dark green.

**[That's a boy.]**

He observed the boy's face. He had very feminine traits, of course, but when he looked closer, he still had that undeniably boyish look.

**[His eyes are green. Mine aren't.]**

Sure enough, his eyes were a deep shade of green. Not as vibrant as the man with bushy eyebrows, but very green nonetheless. He turned to Hope, but he couldn't look at them properly. She wore a pair of glasses he had never seen before, and reflections made it hard to see.

**[He's a senior. I'm a freshman.]**

"I think we get it."

* * *

That evening, the boy Francis had mistaken for Hope was invited over for tea that evening. They discovered he had difficulty speaking because he had a very, very sore throat, and even swallowing was painful. He improvised by writing on a small notebook he carries with him in his blazer pocket. They learned his name was actually _Travis_ Lancaster, nicknamed 'Ray' because once upon a time, someone gave called him 'Tray'. Apparently, he did not appreciate being called an object to carry plates of food and glasses of drinks.

**[Your name is actually Travis?]**

_{. . . Yes?}_

For some reason or another, Hope was not pleased that his real name was indeed Travis.

**[That simplifies things. I'm making it clear to Francis that we will never be in a romantic relationship.]**

"I didn't say anything!"

**[You were thinking about it. And thinking is a crime of the French.]**

Francis could only huff, but really, he was just amused. Ray took a sip of his drink, a small smile forming on his face in delight. Despite inviting over for tea, he wasn't served tea, much to Arthur's dismay.

_{It's delicious. I've never tasted anything like that before. What did you put inside?}_

**[I heard it was a remedy for sore throats, but I'm not sure if it's true or not. The last time I drank it was when I had been a little kid. It's just water mixed in with honey and some lemon.]**

_{Hm. You must have a great memory if you were able to remember something as minuscule as that.}_

**[It had a unique taste. I couldn't forget it.]**

After that, it was mostly the two of them writing to each other. And since the others couldn't bother to read what they wrote, they excused themselves from the table.

**[You sure didn't flip out when you saw three men looking for a high school girl.]**

_{I've seen weirder things. Hetalia isn't one of them.}_

* * *

**Author's Note**

In case it's not clear (and I didn't mention this before), 'vaffanculo' is basically 'fuck you' in Italian.

I once read that it was grammatically incorrect to refer someone with an unknown gender with 'they', and it should be with male pronouns. Actually, I have no idea if what I read was even correct, because in that story, someone theorised that the person who wrote an important letter was hiding their gender, haha.

Well, it looks like I missed my target by a long shot. And holy crud, this chapter is longer than the others (for now)! I also kind of broke the tradition of writing on certain-numbered days... not that it was actually a tradition. Shrug.

Describing clothes is totally the only thing I did right here. _Totally._ (Using the word trousers and British spelling feels awkward somehow... because this story was suppose to be set in America...)

Thank you for the reviews and visits! All the reviews - comments, critiques, questions, suggestions, whatever - all are welcome!

[My personal favourite is to hear people's two cents about the story and the characterisation. I mean, did I portray them oddly? Oh, and what do you think about the original character so far?]


	6. VI: Spotted

**Day Thirty-Two**

"So? Do you think you can answer our questions now?" Francis asked.

**[I'll think about it.]**

Translation: I'll think about it, _period_. Lovino sighed. This was really going nowhere. He heard those questions being asked every single day; it was a wonder they were so damned persistent. If it was him, he would've simply ragequitted.

The only reason he could come up with how he knew the term was two words: Beanie Head. He wasn't really sure what it actually meant, but it had to mean something along the lines of raging and quitting, right?

**[I'm sure you have better things to do than ask some silly questions.]**

"The awesome me is hungry! What's for lunch?" Gilbert entered the dining area, sliding into a seat next to an exasperated Francis.

"Yao's cooking again." Francis pointed at the busy man cooking in the kitchen, earning a quiet 'oh' from his friend.

"Anyway, when are you going to take me to my awesome job interview?" he asked excitedly. She glanced at him before responding.

**[You're going to have to find yourself a new place to call home if you get it.]**

"Why's that?" he asked, still not getting what she meant.

**[I am not driving you to and fro Fargo every single week. Gas doesn't pay itself to get in my car.]**

"Like I'd be bothered by something unawesome as that!" he laughed. "It's not like living in a new city by myself would be intimidating or anything."

Where should he start? Oh, right, Gilbert's job. To put it short, she told him to get off his lazy ass and find a job before she personally kicked him out. (Not that she'd actually do it, but the moment her face showed emotion - not a good one at that - was enough to make him listen to some degree.)

In the end, she mentioned a modeling agency in Fargo (some big city, he presumed) and Gilbert immediately agreed on the idea, stating that his awesomeness would instantly melt the hearts of everyone who saw him.

**[And then you'd be stuck with nobody being able to see you. Cause, you know, you melted their heart. As in, they won't live to bask in your glory, which they won't even know whether it really is glorious or not.]**

At that point, she left the room, not even bothering to see the look on his face.

The end.

"I suggest we move, aru. One more and there wouldn't be any room left."

**[You could always get bunk beds.]**

"That's very funny," Arthur said in a tone that was not amused. She didn't mean it (she never did), but he couldn't deny it could be irritating at times.

"Where are you going?" Francis asked when she stood up.

**[Watching movies. I heard Iron Man 3 is going to play soon.]**

She stood in front of the television, reaching for the remote when a faint click sounding suspiciously like a door was heard. Turning around, she went to the direction of the source. At least, she tried to.

The reason being a blonde woman wearing a green dress ran towards her and engulfed her in a hug.

"I found you," she whispered, hugging the young girl tighter. It felt like an eternity before she finally pulled away. "I thought I'd never see you again! We were so worried..."

A cough interrupted her, and she turned her head towards the dining area. In her eyes, she saw a band of five men she had never seen before standing together and looking at her with a wary expression.

"Ah... who might you be?" she asked, standing up from her position and offering a smile to help ease the atmosphere. Given a good view of the 'intruder', she was attractive. The dazzling smile was just added to her charm.

"_Ciao, bella_. _Mi chiamo _Lovino. _Lei come si chiama?_" Lovino smiled flirtatiously, taking her hand and kissing it. She blinked a few times before quietly giggling.

"_Sono_ Adelaide."

"_Piacere di conoscerla, _Adelaide." He released her hand, stepping back a bit when Francis appeared.

"_Bonjour, mademoiselle! Je m'appelle _Francis; Francis Bonnefoy." He held up a red rose that seemingly came out of nowhere to her, which she took graciously.

"_Merci, monsieur _Bonnefoy," she smiled, no longer giggling. Then Gilbert stepped forward.

"And I am Gilbert Beilschmidt, the only awesome man in the world." He had more to say, but he felt a slight pain in his arm. It wasn't long before Francis felt the same sensation.

"What was that for?" he pouted, even though it wasn't particularly painful. Lovino muttered a low 'dammit, the hell?' when he too was struck at the arm with the remote. They stared at her expectantly. She had an irked look that said 'are you fucking kidding me'. Her hand reached for Adelaide's left hand, holding it up so the back of her hand could be seen.

"Ahh." There was a tiny little gold ring on her ring finger which they didn't notice before. But wait, that meant...

**[She's married, you dolts.]**

"I was going to say she's engaged, but damn," Gilbert whistled.

"I'm afraid that's true," she smiled, not one trace of guilt on her face (not like she had to be).

"Really? You looked so young I wouldn't have guessed that you were married," he complimented.

"Hmm, I have do have a sister, but I'm not sure if she's your type." She hummed, appearing thoughtful.

"I wouldn't mind even if she was older." He smirked.

"Is that so? Do you have a thing for older sisters, then?" she asked in wonder, as if it was the most interesting thing ever. She leaned her face towards his, studying his face. He shrugged, still smirking. "Well, that's too bad. The older one is me, and quite frankly my dear, I am already taken." Smile still in place, she stepped back.

"Please excuse them for their strange behaviour. They're not used to seeing pretty ladies in the house." Arthur had a small smile on his face. "The name is Kirkland. Arthur Kirkland. I know the perfect way to make up for it. Why don't you have lunch with us?" Adelaide blinked a few times.

"Oh, no, it was my fault for suddenly intruding upon your household like that! Is it really alright if I join?" she was looking at Hope as she asked. The white beanie on her head lightly bobbed as she nodded.

"Alright, first things first, I'd like to ask something." All eyes were on Adelaide. "Who cooked this?"

A _pap _sounded in the air. A moment of confusion passed before realising Hope had facepalmed.

"Anyway..." Arthur coughed, "How are you related to her?"

"Oh, well, we're family friends. But to make things simpler, my sister and I are referred as her 'aunts'," she explained, taking a bite of her food. Whatever it was, she didn't care - it was delicious, _homemade_ Chinese food. "I was really happy when I saw her, you know."

"Yes, you did seem excited. Is there a reason for it?" Arthur inquired. _So he's playing the detective? _Lovino raised an eyebrow, but thought nothing more.

"See, after she went missing almost two months ago, we looked everywhere for her! Unfortunately for us, we couldn't find her anywhere."

"But then how did you find her now?" Francis spoke before Arthur could. She swallowed the food she was chewing.

"A few days ago, I saw her going to that posh academy," she shrugged. "I had the keys to my workplace's building, so I always went extra early." That would certainly explain why she would head to work before the sun had even risen.

"What happened two months ago, aru?" Yao pinched in, very interested in the topic.

"Eh? You didn't... tell them?" Adelaide faced the young girl, whose attention was still on her food as she shook her head. "Uh, um... I think you should ask her instead." She pulled out her PDA and pressed the keys.

**[I suppose it's about time I should let you know.]**

The blonde woman neatly placed her utensils on top of her cleared plate, directing her attention on her.

**[I lived in a different house before. It burned down, and I ran away.]**

Many pairs of eyes widened and eyebrows raised at the new piece of information.

**[My parents have been missing, though they were not reported.]**

Adelaide bit her lip nervously. Even though she already knew, it still made her feel uncomfortable.

**[That is all I'm going to tell you.]**

She stood up to leave the table.

"I think I will take my leave. Please excuse me. Thank you for the meal." Adelaide also decided to the smart thing and leave at that moment.

The Mystery of the Missing Parents was solved. Or was it? There were still too many unanswered questions to have the case closed.

* * *

**Author's Note**

1._ Mi chiamo... _- My name is...  
2. _Lei come si chiama? _- What is your name?  
3. _Sono... _- I'm...  
4. _Piacere di conoscerla. _- Please to meet you.

I haven't had new reviews in a while (and everyone knows that reviews are like godsent motivation for authors), so I'm a little bummed out. (But thank you very much for the tip, RMS!) (This chapter seems way too serious. The next one is going to be funnier. I hope.)

I thought I should write a bit about what Adelaide felt when she first came in, but I'll leave that for another time. And a pretty lady in the house. Something they don't get the pleasure (or displeasure) of everyday, hence all that. She'll come back later, but not all that frequently. I still have a few more characters to introduce, and a ton of canon characters.

You know the drill. All reviews - comments, questions, suggestions, critiques (hell, even complaints) - are welcome! Go all out. Reviews are a wonderful thing, no?

And I have a very special request!

What do you think is the significance behind the number of days?

Why is the girl (Beanie Head, Hope, take your pick) so indifferent?

Where are her parents?

If anybody gets any one of them right, I'll write in a character. An original character! All I need would be basic information. Because honestly, I don't think I'm capable of creating really good original character, haha.

B.


	7. VII: Follower

**Day Thirty-Five**

The time was a quarter past six in the morning. Normally, Francis wouldn't be bothered to wake up earlier than half past six whenever he had to cook breakfast. However, after what happened a week ago (five days to be precise), he was determined to personally see that she made it to school safely at such an ungodly hour.

He stood in front of the door of her room. Knocking he few times, he began to wait for a response. As he did so, he began pondering on the fact he had never actually seen the inside of it before. A few minutes passed without any changes, and he hung his head low while sighing. That was when he saw a piece of paper on the ground and picked it up.

**[By the time you're reading this, I'm probably not here anymore.]**

The paper was flipped.

**[Check your phone.]**

He went up to his shared room to retrieve his (newly bought) cellphone and turned it on. Sure enough, there was one unread message.

**[I have already left the house. I would not recommend breaking into my room because you will have to compensate for any damaged property.]**

The message was sent at ten minutes past six, which was literally five minutes ago.

...

...

"**_What!?_**"

* * *

Outside the house, Hope got on her bicycle near the porch next to her room. She could hear the Frenchman verbally reacting to her message; she figured he would wake the entire house from how loud he was being. Then again, it wouldn't be surprising if it took more than that to actually startle them awake. With that, she did the smart thing to do - that is, cycling away from the house before Francis could get the idea she might have been fooling him and start to search the entire house.

One would say she was heading to school since she was fully dressed in the uniform. On the contrary, she was not. There was no destination that came to mind, so she opted to going anywhere her legs felt like taking her to. Even so, there wasn't much to see and she quickly grew bored of it. Then she thought of a place; a park. Said park was somewhat close to her school, but not close enough to be seen from the front gates. Once there, she parked her bicycle and settled to climb up a big tree and sit on one of its branches.

Her phone indicated the time was a quarter past seven. As the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun; but she wouldn't really call the past hour 'fun'. She leaned back and faced upwards.

The truth is short and simple - she was skipping school (or about to, since school hours hadn't started just yet) for the measly reason of not wanting to go. The only reason she was at school the previous week was because she had expected Francis to pull something like that. Although to be fair, she didn't expect Arthur to be there, and she certainly didn't expect Lovino to be there either; but what she didn't expect at all was Travis, the new transfer student, to be there with them (or to be mistaken for her).

Of course, there was always the possibility that she might be found and dragged back to school if necessary, but she still hoped that nobody would find her. There was still a lot of time to kill until school ended, and she thought of taking a nap.

"Heeeeey!"

For a moment, she wondered whether she would ever find a place where she wouldn't be disturbed.

"You, up there in the tree!"

Apparently not. Deciding to humour whoever called her, she faced that person. A girl seemingly around her age was staring at her. The only significant thing worth noting was the ribbon holding her hair up, which had a checkered pattern. A student, she assumed, from the uniform and school crest (or was it emblem?), though she had never seen it before. Despite looking quite normal, that girl had a strange air of style.

"Aren't you going to school?" she asked. Hope didn't bat an eye before turning her head away, crossing her arms and mentally huffing. If that girl continued talking, she would be wasting her own time.

"So you're skipping, huh..." she said in a way that sounded almost dejected, making Hope roll her eyes. 'Almost' because... well, she barely knew her. Nobody would be sad over such petty things, and about a stranger no less._  
_

"I'm sure there's a reason for whatever you're doing, but is it really worth it?" she asked. Ignore her; just ignore her.

"Even thought I can't see you well, I can remember your face and school colours." And what? _Tattle_?

"If that's how you're going to act, then so be it," she sighed.

"I won't stop you or drag you back to school, but you know..." Hope dared to look at the girl out of the corner of her eyes. She had a hand on her hip, her mouth forming a line and looking like she was ready to give a lecture to her. Well, that wouldn't be very surprising.

"I'd change my clothes if I were you. Wouldn't want to get caught by anyone passing by."

Say what?

"If you're going to do something, you should do it properly and not sloppily - regardless of what you're doing." Hope faced the girl again, who was smiling. She flashed the piece sign before walking away.

Well, whatever. At least she was gone. Hope resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn't _that_ stupid; of course she had thought ahead. She brought along a pair of khaki pants (trousers, _whatever, _don't care) in her bag. She already wore a plaid shirt under her uniform's white short, so all she needed to do was find a secluded place to slip in her khakis.

Once she got that done, she decided that sitting on a tree branch was no longer fun when the sunshine is intense and rose her bicycle around town. She stopped by a bakery, purchasing a roll of fresh bread with blueberry filling along with a bottle of drinking water. After all, she left before there was even a crack of the sun - she may not have been hungry then, but she is now.

* * *

It was noon when she bought some frozen yogurt, serving as a dessert to her lunch. While she was leisurely eating her treat at one of the shop's tables, she felt her phone vibrating.

_| Look to your left! |_

A text message from an unknown number. Strange, considering she never ever gave out her number to anybody. The only exception was for official records, important documents, stuff like that. To the left was another table, and beside that table was the kind of large, transparent window that all shops and restaurants seem to have.

The yogurt currently inside her mouth was threatening to spill out.

It was the girl from that morning, standing outside the shop with a smile on her face and waving at her. In a situation like this, she would most likely enter the shop and sit down at her table for a chat. At least, that's what Hope had always seen in sitcoms and movies. This is reality, and most certainly not a sitcom or movie in production, even though she had always wondered what it would be like to be in one. And so, she did the most logical thing to do in that situation.

To hell with sitcoms and movies; she absconded the shop through the back door in a speed she hadn't absconded before. By the time the girl had reached the table she had formerly occupied, there was not a trace of Hope ever being there as she was currently heading to the other side of town.

When she got there, she stopped at a park. Unlike the large and serene park she was familiar with, this one was small - much, much smaller. It probably wasn't supposed to be a park, but is because someone had the fantastic idea of making the area's name Park rather than Street or Lane or Avenue or whatever.

She wasn't very familiar with this side of town and wanted to explore, but all that pedaling made her feel hungry. Her first destination in mind was to find a shop that sold food.

Though she didn't know why, she suddenly pulled to a stop in front of a house after her snack. The simplistic but elegant design was very pleasing - that has to be it. (She had a bad feeling that she should get going. Like, now.)

_Ding!_

| _Eyes front, soldier! _|

She shifted her gaze from the pretty house to what was in front of her and immediately regretted it.

It was _that girl_. The annoyingly curious and awfully persistent one. Right there in front of her, with an expression she could only describe as amused. Hope held up her cellphone.

**[First and foremost, how the diddly squat did you get my number?]**

A faint beep sounded from where the girl stood. She raised an eyebrow at Hope before answering.

| _I have a friend. |_

Fat load of help that is! Hope controlled herself not to roll her eyes.

**[Second, why are you everywhere I go? This is in the side of town furthest away from that park!]**

| _Isn't it obvious? I _live_ here. And that house you've been staring at for a while now? Uh, that's my house. |_

Yeah, good to know.

**[It's noon. No school ends this early. Why are you out on an adventure?]**

| _Today's a half day, but not everybody had to attend. I only came because of a super important meeting. |_

How convenient.

**[Fourth, who are you? I don't know you, I see your face everywhere I go, you have my number that I never gave to you; I just might be convinced that you are a stalker in disguise.]**

The girl grinned, her teeth visible, looking like she was about to laugh.

| _My name's Evelyn, and I'm in junior year at my school. It's kind of close to yours. I'm glad you asked. |__  
_

**[Really? I'm not glad to know.]**

The girl - now properly named Evelyn - rolled her eyes.

_| So, what's bugging you so much that you had to skip school for? |_

If, before, Hope had somehow managed to keep a poker face the entire time she was inside her own house without cracking even once, then she should have been able to do the same right then and there. She also would have brushed off her question like nothing and continued on her merry way. But she didn't. She had no idea why; and she didn't know whether how she knew or not would even matter.

**[Have you heard of Hetalia?]**

| _Hmm... I've been in the fandom before, but that was years ago! Kind of sad to say my interest faded a bit. |_

Because all that mattered right now was Hope herself, the newly acquainted Evelyn, and what happened after that.

* * *

"So _this _is where you live!"

Evelyn (as Hope discovered) was an easily excited person. From the way she acted, Hope didn't think she'd a few years her senior.

"Welcome back _mon petite cherie! _How was your- ah, who is your little friend there?" Upon entering the household, they received a very warm welcome.

"Hello! I'm Evelyn." She smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Evelyn. _Je m'appelle _Francis; please come in!"

Blond hair (which she had to admit looked _fabulous_) and blue eyes with friendly glint. Something about him seemed oddly familiar in Evelyn's eyes. _But it's normal for Europeans to have blond hair and blue eyes_, she reasoned with herself. _Yes, that must be it._

"You came at such a pleasant time, we're just about to have lunch! Although it is not _moi _who is cooking, Yao's food is better than _some people_."

Evelyn only looked around in wonder as she followed Francis and Hope through the house. It had such a homely feeling that she felt like staying there forever.

"I heard that, you bloody frog! Sod off will you!" A distinct British accent sounded from... somewhere. Everything was so fast she didn't have time to memorise the layout of the house.

"Will you keep it down? It's not good to argue during lunchtime, aru!" A man with a vaguely familiar accent came to the dining table with large trays in both hands and each tray with lots of food. He was dressed entirely in red, though thankfully not the blinding type of red - it was closer to maroon actually. He looked quite feminine, with the ponytail and bandanna-cloth-thing on his head and pink-ish apron, but there was an unmistakable masculinity she could sense. _Aru... huh.__  
_

"You should tell that to _him_, or better yet, beat some sense into him with your wok." Another man came, with messy blond hair, strikingly green eyes, and... really really thick eyebrows? _Wait a sec... have I seen this before?_

"The awesome me is here! Make way, kesesese!" A blur of silvery white (whitish silver?) dashed by, sliding into one of the chairs at the table. He was facing the other way, so Evelyn couldn't be sure, but was starting to have an idea.

_'Ding dong!' _sounded the doorbell. Hope didn't waste time to head back to the foyer, and Evelyn found herself following her. She opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a massive crate.

"Hello again, Miss. I see you've gotten yourself a new friend." The guy she didn't notice a minute ago smiled at her before pushing the crate inside with that thingamajig with wheels that carried heavy stuff.

Around five minutes later, Evelyn found herself looking at a very hyperactive boy calling for his 'aniki'.

"Have you seen Yao? I know I heard him just now, da ze!"

At first, she didn't recognise him. It felt like she had never seen him before. But when she did remember, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"You're... South Korea?" she asked, a grin creeping up her face.

"Of course, da ze!"

"Can you hack your way to a faster internet connection?" Her eyes lit up like a kid's during Christmas.

"I can do anything when it comes to the internet! Did you know that Korea's internet connection is the fastest in the world?"

Evelyn clasped her hands together in front of her, and she had the biggest smile on her face.

"Let's go watch Korean dramas!"

"Dramas originated in Korea, da ze!" She grabbed his hand, and they ran off... somewhere.

"I'm not cooking any more food if they don't eat anything," Yao sighed. "Sit down and eat!"

* * *

**Author's Note**

Here's a treat for you - a first time ever third person person view with Beanie Head! There's a reason why I don't write mainly from her view. RMS got the general idea of of the number thing with one hint! It's okay if you don't figure it out right off the bat since it's kind of vague. Time will tell everything, eventually. (Though that little 'prize' is still up for grabs until whenever!) Oh, and Hope ran away with the froyo of course.

I dropped a subject at school and took another elective class. I'm very happy because I won't have to learn something I'm not interested in, heheh.

(I apologise if I butchered the French. I'm sticking to the simplest phrases he'd most likely use, judging from a few good manual fics I've read.)

It's really late right now, but I just had to finish this up. I've been frantically working on a PowerPoint presentation for a few hours. I _had_ to finish that thing up because I won't have enough time tomorrow... sigh.

So... did anybody catch a reference up there? It's really obvious, but only if you've been in that fandom. C'mon, it's the easiest thing ever!

B.


	8. VIII: Chatterbox

**Day Forty-Two**

Throughout the past week, there were a few things Lovino learned.

"Heyo! How's your job-hunting gig going?"

"I don't need a job, don't you know? Money's already rolling in just because I'm here!"

**Thing One**: Evelyn stops by their house before heading to her own.

"Yeah, yeah... funny, I could've sworn you've said that at least half a dozen times this week."

Every. _Single._ **Friggin**. Day.

**Thing Two**: Evelyn and Yong-soo are practically attached to the hip, hands down, no questions asked.

"Have you finished downloading Running Man?"

"Only around a hundred episodes, da ze!"

"What have you been _doing_?"

"I dunno, _downloading the other ton of stuff you told me to?_"

**Thing Three**: They're addicted to Korean entertainment as much as Arthur is to the shows that run on BBC. (_And let me tell you, the guy is freaking nuts about it. He'd occasionally scream something about Sherlock at the oddest times._)

"_Bonjour, _Francis; hello, Arthur! What the hell are you guys arguing about now?"

"Ah, good evening. As I was _saying_, I suggest we move to another house. We barely have enough room to fit everyone as it is!" Arthur crossed his arms and sighed in frustration.

Quick recap of what happened before that: Lovino was sitting in front of the TV, Arthur was bundled up in blankets and sleeping on the extra couch, Les Misérables happened to be playing, and Francis _had_ to have finished making snacks for the girls (because it would be totally rude to have a guest over and not giving them something to eat).

Francis' comments on the movie were rather loud, which made Arthur wake up and tell him to shut his slimey frog mouth. That in turn caused Francis to tell Arthur to get his own room to sleep in ("There _is_ no other room, you twit.").

And the rest shouldn't need any more explaining by yours truly. If in any case should the need for one arises, then tough luck - find someone else to be your exposition fairy.

"And I stand against that! Even though it's only been a little over a month, I just know this house is precious to her." Francis glanced at Hope, who was looking through the fridge

"Or that's just your fancy way of saying 'I'm against this because I have the obligation of contradicting everything Arthur says'."

"Well, there's also that." He winked. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Aw, well, I'm sure you guys will figure something out soon," Evelyn grinned, almost waving it off like one would swat a fly away, "anyway, let's eat!"

**Thing Four**: Evelyn is a massive chatterbox to the extreme.

"All of us had to do presentations in the room with speakers and computer tech-y stuff, and I was the first girl to present. It was all fine and dandy - I dare say I was _great - _but there was one guy who said I should've used the mic. And so I said, 'well gee, I'm sorry; I didn't know you had hearing difficulties, 'cause you know, people sitting in the front row _totally _can't hear a single thing. But that's just because people of your level can't handle the awesomeness I have in me' -"

"- that guy had it coming, really. There's a reason why I'm on the debate team, you see!"

"- it kind of sucks that most of the boys in my school are jerks. I wouldn't have mind if they were less sociable or anything, but _no_, they just had to be jerks. You know, I -"

"- you say that, teachers can be jerks too actually. Once, someone slept during a test because he was done with it, and the teacher sent him off to detention for -"

"- cool exchange student from Spain! Loved cooking more than anything, and -"

"- what would you call American food? I honestly don't get these things..."

"- a rose? _Really? _Strange, I recall Arthur stating he didn't know a _thing _about America's symbols. _Very_ strange indeed."

The conversation went on and _on_ and **on **with a ridiculously wide range of topics, from classes to school systems to cuisine around the world to national symbols to flower languages to video games to movies to comics to characters to authors to...

Actually, never mind. Lovino did _not_ have time to deal with this kind of crap. He was impressed he even managed to remember _how_ the conversation jumped from topic to topic. He should get some kind of medal for having such a great memory.

* * *

"Let's all watch a movie!" proposed Evelyn out of the blue. Everyone stared at her with mixed expressions.

It was already dark outside. Since she lived on the practically on the other side of town (think of America to Japan, from west to east, but on a much, _much,_ smaller scale) she was insisted to stay with them for the night despite having no more extra rooms.

"Oh, come on! It's the beginning of the weekend; you guys should relax a bit more! I always see you, you, and you with grumpy expressions without even smiling even once!" Evelyn pointed an accusing finger at Yao, Lovino (duh), and Arthur (_duh_) with a slight frown on her face. The remaining men snickered.

"Don't think _you_'_re_ off the hook either." She turned towards Francis, Gilbert, and Yong-soo. "In fact, all of you need to take some time just to unwind and relax!"

"In more ways than one," Gilbert whispered, prompting snickers from the other two. Evelyn raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"One of these days, I will either hit you with a frying pan or stab you with a pen."

"I have a better pen on me; want to borrow it sometime?"

"On second thought, I'll hit you with a frying pan right now." As if to demonstrate the seriousness of her threat, she brandished a frying pan seemingly out of nowhere. Gilbert immediately shut up. Evelyn shook her head.

"I don't get why you always make lame innuendos out of everything I say."

"That's just because you have an unawesome choice of words." He snickered.

"Anyways... I think a good ol' Disney movie would be great. I hear there's a movie marathon tonight, so let's watch that!" Without waiting for an answer, she reached for the remote and flipped to the right channel. It was still early in the night, so nobody would be surprised if there were plenty of movies in store.

"C'mon, make yourselves comfortable!" She insisted, dragging a less than willing Hope and an even less willing Lovino to the couch in front of the TV. She made it so Hope sat in the middle. The others chose their own spots; some sat on the other couch (dubbed Arthur's couch because that's where he slept) and the ones who didn't get to sit on the couches simply sat on the floor (Yao and Yong-soo, with the Korean sitting near Evelyn and Arthur because there was no way he'd sit anywhere near Francis for a long period of time).

"What's on first, da ze?" Yong-soo asked excitedly. Really, he'd get excited over anything.

"I think it's _The Lorax_! It's been a while since I've seen that."

"Hmm. I heard some parts in the movie were added in that wasn't in the book," Arthur mused.

"So what? It's not like the movie's completely ruined," she defended. "Oh hey, it's starting!"

Lovino sighed. This was going to be a _long_ night.

* * *

"Okay, this is the second-last one, I promise!"

Four hours of singing, laughing, and two boxes of tissues later, they were still watching movies. Not that anybody complained - all of them were having fun, and really _all of them, _even if they wouldn't admit it.

"_Lilo and Stitch_?" Francis read.

"Wow... I don't remember the last time I've heard of that," Evelyn hummed.

Initially, they were mostly laughing during the movie run, but...

"_Ohana means family. And family means no one gets left behind... or forgotten._"

Silence hung in the air, and not a soul dared to break it - they were all lost in their own worlds by then.

Francis' eyes were half-lidded and decided his hands on his lap were interesting. Gilbert leaned back in his seat, his head resting in a way that made him face upwards. Arthur had his eyes closed, closely hugging on of his knees. Yao's face was hidden by the enormous stuffed panda he was hugging, and Yong-soo lowered his face in his arms as he hugged both his knees. Lovino's arm was propped up on the armrest, resting his head on his palm and looking away. Even Evelyn, the energetic and plucky chatterbox wasn't saying a single thing. In fact, she hadn't been ever since the start of the movie.

There was a sort of unspoken understanding among them in that silence, which they were grateful for, as each and every one of them was thinking about their own family who were presently absent.

A hand lightly touched Evelyn's and Lovino's. They turned to the one sitting between them, seeing a PDA being held up.

"'It's okay to be sad.'" Evelyn read the message out loud, causing everyone to snap out of their trance and turn their heads to her.

"You know... my favorite Disney movie of all time is _Mulan_, but the first Disney movie I watched was _Lilo and Stitch_," she smiled. "I didn't really understand what the message was. I mean, I didn't even know there _was_ a message." She laughed at herself.

"What is your family like, aru?" Yao asked, no longer hiding behind the panda.

"Uh, hmm... My family's a little small. There's just me, my mom, and my dad. Well, _was_ me, my mom, and my dad." She sighed a little wistfully.

"A-ah, I'm sorry for bringing that up!" the Chinese man apologised. She raised her hands as a gesture for him to stop.

"No, no, it's totally fine! They passed away when I was like, ten, and I'm not _that_ upset anymore," she assured him, "besides, I think they'd be even more upset if I was only moping around and neglecting my life."

"Tell us more about them! They sound like really nice people, da ze," Yong-soo turned so that he was facing her.

"Oh, alright... let's see. My dad was a businessman, so he was busy most of the time. But whenever he was home, he'd always spend his time with Mom and me." She paused. "See, I had this strange fondness for archery back then. You have no idea how much I bugged my parents about it," she laughed, "I guess one day, my dad gave in and began to personally teach me. Turns out, archery was once his hobby!" Laughter erupted in the room.

"Yeah, my dad liked to spoil me a bit. All the more reason for me to love him." She grinned. "You know, I think my favorite thing about my dad is how he would never fail to spend time with us, even though he was busy, tired, under pressure... anything. It makes me feel important."

"Must be nice to feel that," Lovino muttered before he knew it. Evelyn raised an eyebrow.

"Say, Lovino. What about you? How do you feel about your family?" she asked, and he had gained everyone's undivided attention all of a sudden. He swallowed the little bit of saliva in his mouth nervously.

In the end, they never watched the next movie. They stayed up all night talking about their respective families, with some of them even arguing about it (Yao and Yong-soo, unsurprisingly).

That night, they moved around the furniture in the living room and set out the mattresses. All of them slept peacefully in the living room, together, no strings attached.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Disney movies really hit home sometimes... as a side note, they did watch _Mulan_ some time before _Lilo and Stitch_. I couldn't write it in without feeling out of place. (I'm not good at writing parental appreciation...)

If Evelyn has odd wording, it's very likely on purpose. For example, the usage of American English and/or mixed with British English.

Anyway, I didn't really make a _reference_, per se. Just that a few words from the last chapter was inspired by a certain fandom. I'm not really in that fandom anymore because I can't keep up with updates, heheh.

I have a Tumblr! But it's still kind of empty, and I queue all of my posts, so... bear with me. I'll post the link on my profile later.

And like usual, reviews are much appreciated! Go all out! The only thing I bite is food.

Question of the Week: What's your favourite Disney movie, and why?

Have a great week, and I'll see you next week!

B.


	9. IX: Notebook

**Day Forty-Three**

"Soo-yah! _Soo-yah_! Yong-soo-yah!" Evelyn, ever the energetic and plucky girl, was yelling for her partner-in-crime. Currently, she was sitting at the dining table, a laptop sitting in front of her and headphones on her head.

It was a normal thing for her to be shouting about, but the thing is, Yong-soo was sitting right beside her while drinking a cup of coffee.

"_De?_" Yong-soo yelled back. She looked at him squarely in the eye.

"Tonight's dinner will be _sanjeok _and chicken stew," she decreed. Yong-soo placed a hand on the left side of the headphones and put it over his left ear.

"Ooh, this episode! It has great tips for cooking Korean food da ze!" he said after pausing the button.

"So does that mean you're going to make it for dinner?" Evelyn practically bounced in her seat.

"You don't want to try the other dishes they made?"

"Of course I do, but I don't remember what they're called I mean I'm not Korean so I'd probably get the names wrong!" she laughed. "But that lady with the actor made something with snow crabs, right?"

"Yup! There was also that rocker dude with the oysters and seaweed. Then there's that guy obsessed with cold noodles..."

"Ahh! Can't you save that for another time?" she pouted. "I love food and all, but I prefer savoring the flavor. And besides, are there even snow crabs here?" When he was about to answer, Arthur entered the kitchen.

"Good afternoon," yawned Arthur. He made himself a cup of tea before sitting across the pair.

"Afternoon, sir," chirped Evelyn. "Did you sleep late last night?" Arthur nodded.

"Say, why didn't you just plug and play it on the telly?" he asked, eyeing the laptop.

"Well, Lovino's on his siesta, and we have no intentions on dying early!" came the response from Yong-soo. Arthur acknowledged it with a knowing nod. In that house, it was an unspoken rule that _nobody_ interrupts Lovino's siesta.

Despite his attitude, Lovino wasn't a prejudiced, judging bastard if he wanted to. Unfortunately for the others, that just meant he didn't give a flying fuck whether he was scared of them or not - anybody who would dare interrupt his siesta would surely face his wrath.

"Have you seen Hope?" Evelyn asked.

"Still holed up in her room, I assume," Arthur shrugged. He took a sip of tea.

"I'm home!" announced Yao as he entered the kitchen, carrying a brown paper bag.

"Welcome home _hyeong_!" Yong-soo waved with a grin. "When's lunch going to be ready da ze?"_  
_

"So impatient, aru." Yao shook his head. "Maybe in an hour."

"What? Why so long?" Evelyn moaned in frustration.

"Aiyah, cooking is all about the effort! Understand that!" he snapped back. Evelyn and Yong-soo gave each other a look before bursting into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked, looking at Yao for an answer, only to sigh when he shrugged.

"We may never know," he said ominously as he quickly prepared to cook.

"Hey, just so you know, we're making tonight's dinner. So we'll be taking the car to look for ingredients okay thanks bye!"

And in the blink of an eye, Evelyn and Yong-soo disappeared. Their belongings, however, stayed where they were.

* * *

"They wanted me to cook faster, but in the end, they're not eating!" Yao grumbled as he prepared the table. He glanced at the laptop, which displayed a paused video. A small notebook lay opened beside it.

On one hand, he was curious simply because it was opened. On the other hand, snooping wasn't a very nice thing to do.

Never mind - if they asked why he did it, he'd just say the book was open and he would have seen it anyway. He took the book in his hands and flipped the pages one by one towards the first.

Well, he _would_ have done that until he saw familiar-looking characters and stopped. _Are those... Chinese characters?_ He raised an eyebrow as he tried to read it.

'_Tomorrow is supposed to be a holiday, but there is a student council meeting at school. When I become president (or vice, whichever I can get) I will definitely make things go so perfectly the others would love being council members!_'

Thus was the rough translation of it. He quickly flipped to the very first page. Only Chinese characters were used, save for one line.

Evelyn... Hui Hou?

* * *

"We're home!" Evelyn danced into the living room, a plastic bag in each of her hands. Gilbert, Arthur and Lovino looked up from watching the television, acknowledging her presence, before turning to the show once again.

"Finding ingredients sure can be hard, da-ze," Yong-soo said tiredly as he followed her.

"Yes, aru! For the last time, they took the car to buy ingredients!" Yao said exasperatedly. "_You_ should be the one interrogating _her_, not _you_ interrogating _me _into interrogating _her._"

"Don't blame me for taking so long! Evelyn was the one driving, da-ze," the Korean quickly defended himself. True to his word, they _had_ been out for a while. They left before noon and returned a little while before the sun had set.

"You can _drive_?" Gilbert asked, laughing at Yao's comment. He was rubbing his temples at the dining table as Hope stood beside him."

"Of course I can! What makes you think I can't?" she huffed, setting the bags on the dining table. Yong-soo, who had been carrying a paper bag, placed the object on the table as well.

"You're Chinese! Why didn't I know this before?" Yao demanded out of the blue. Gilbert burst into laughter, and she blinked in confusion.

"You never asked. So I thought it was irrelevant," she shrugged casually. "Speaking of Chinese, can- ahem, _may_ I call you Lao Wang?" Evelyn grinned, having correcting herself before being pointed out by Arthur. Hope raised a hand before sliding her PDA.

**[What does that Lao Wang mean?]**

"I'm glad you asked!" Evelyn beamed, her eyes practically gleaming with her Chinese pride. "Lao Wang basically translates to 'Old Wang'." She started to unpack the plastic bags she brought._  
_

"You see, unlike in Western cultures, old age is actually a pretty cool thing! It's like acknowledging the person you're calling old is wise and has a lot of experience in life, thus deserving of respect." Evelyn and Yong-soo began preparing the ingredients. At the dining table, Yao and Hope (who has sat down at some point) observed them from afar.

"And she calls me 'Wang' for the same reason that Japanese people would call each other by their family name, but I suppose you already know this," Yao continued, despite not being asked to.

"But you're fine with us calling you Yao?" asked Arthur from in front of the TV. He cast a curious glance towards the Chinese man.

"Aiyah, no need to make a fuss about it! You Westerners are used to calling people by their given name, so why force yourself to something you're not used to?" he asked in response, waving it off.

"Hey, has anybody seen Francis?" Evelyn asked all of a sudden. The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

"...did you pick him up from his school yet?" Yao slowly turned towards the girl beside him.

**[In my defense, the one and only car in this house was used by them.]**

Well, instead of describing how things went after that, let's just say all of them have had better nights.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Fun with Korean and Chinese! _Sanjeok _(pronounced san-jok, think Japanese 'san' and 'o'... uh, I don't know how to describe that sorry) is a traditional Korean cuisine made by grilling sliced beef and vegetables with seasonings or frying it with a griddle. Personally I've never had it, but I think it's pretty tasty!

The -_yah _is a honorific used after the given name to a person you are close friends with. I like to think Yong-soo is _bffsies5ever _with someone to the point of having a cool Korean nickname. If memory serves me right, I've never read a story where Yong-soo has a best friend to fanboy (fangirl?) over K-entertainment the same way a huge anime/manga/Japanophile would fangirl over all things Japanese with Kiku. Besides, Korean entertainment are just as cool!

My sister played a few episode of Korean dramas and I just watched along. The 'Soo-yah' nickname was inspired by a character calling her best friend with a -_yah _at the end (though that friendship was kind of one-sided heheh). Yong-soo probably won't mind because it (actually) is a Korean thing.

Quiz time! Did you expect Evelyn being Chinese? Or were there no hints at all?

Bonus: What is the show Yong-soo and Evelyn were watching? (Seriously, if you get it right, you are my best friend forever.)

As per usual, all reviews are welcomed and will be used to fuel my motivation! Be it comments, questions, critiques, complaints, whatever! (I apologise for the rush of this chapter. I have to update before tomorrow!)

B.

P.S. - Mulan was playing as I finished this chapter. You have no idea how happy I am! (Considering the last chapter, I'm not sure whether I should...)


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